Page 80 of The Unforgiven
“What happened to your baby, Mammy?” Madeline hadn’t seen any white slaves at Arabella Plantation. Perhaps Jean Besson had sold the child to hide his infidelity.
“My girl was allowed to remain with me until she was eight, but then she was taken into the big house to serve the family. Sybil thought it was the best way to remind her of her place, and to punish me and her wayward husband. She served her own father and his children, and suffered daily humiliation from his wife.”
“Where is she?” Madeline asked softly. “What happened to your girl?”
“She was too pretty to remain invisible. The son of the house fell in love with her. He wasn’t like his father, who lied and promised me my freedom to keep me sweet. He freed my girl by marrying her.” Mammy turned to face Madeline. “My daughter was your mother, Maddy. She was my beautiful Corinne.”
Madeline stared at her, mouth open in shock. “You’re my grandmother.”
“Yes, child. I’m your grandmother, and I’ve passed on my mama’s gift to you. You can see the dead when you touch their things. Corinne could too. She hated it. It frightened her, so when your daddy married her and took her away to New Orleans, he buy everything new for her. When your mama died, I took away all her things right away. I didn’t want you to see.”
“But you left her fan,” Madeline protested.
“She never got to use the fan. It was safe to leave you something of her. She loved you, Madeline. So much.”
“Did my father know, Mammy? Did he know my mother was his sister?”
Mammy shook her head. “Sybil was too proud to tell him. She cast him out for marrying a woman with Negro blood, but she didn’t tell him the whole truth, and Jean was gone by then, carried off by yellow fever. Charles never knew. When they married, I went with them. Sybil was angry, but she did nothing to get me back. She couldn’t bear to look at me. In her eyes, I’d ruined her life. She was still too proud to blame her own man.”
“It must have been awful for you to have to return here.”
“It was, but I got to see my boys. I found me a man after Jean tired of me, and we had a family. He loved my Corinne like she be his own, but I hadn’t seen him or my boys in fifteen years. My man died two years ago,” Mammy choked out.
“I’m sorry, Mammy,” Madeline whispered. “I never knew what a hard life you’ve had.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a bad life, Maddy. I had my girl, and I had you. I was happy to see her free, and respectable. Your daddy, he loved her something fierce. Loving her is what killed him in the end.”
“And George? Does he know?”
Mammy shook her head. “Sybil is too ashamed to tell her grandson that his uncle married a slave girl who was his half-sister. Too dirty, too shameful. But George, he no different from his grandfather. Handsome, charming, and ruthless.”
“Oh, Mammy, you don’t think he ever loved me, do you?” Madeline cried.
“Oh, he loved you, child. He loved you lying beneath him and taking what he had to give. He only cared for his own selfish needs. And now there’s a baby in your belly, and it’s an added benefit, unless it comes out black. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?” Mammy asked, her tone bitter.
“Can that happen?”
Mammy shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, but it’s possible I s’pose. ’Tis in the blood, ain’t it?”
“Mammy, what do I do?” Madeline wailed, more confused than ever. She had believed that George cared for her and would make things right once he found out about the baby, but if Mammy was to be believed, he had simply used her, much as the Dutchman had used Mammy’s mother and like Jean Besson had used Mammy and then discarded her when he got bored. Were all men so callous?
No, Madeline thought defiantly. Her father had married her mother, despite the cost to himself. He could have inherited the Arabella Plantation. He could have enjoyed a life of wealth and privilege, but he’d chosen the woman he loved over money and reputation. There were good, honorable men out there. There had to be.
“You give that baby to George. Let it take its rightful place in the family,” Mammy said, giving Madeline a hard, calculating look.
“It’d be the ultimate revenge, wouldn’t it, to have your great-grandchild inherit it all?” Madeline asked, smiling for the first time.
“I ain’t looking for revenge; I’m looking for justice. Let that baby be blessed and happy. It deserves it. You—you go away from here. Ask George for money and go away. Make a life for yourself away from this place. Build a future, a family of your own.”
“Will you come with me?”
“They own me, my girl. I can’t just leave unless George frees me. They’d hunt me down. Sybil would like nothing better than to whip me senseless, even after all these years. Her hurt runs deep. And I have my boys here and their children. No, you must go on your own. You’ll find your way. You’ll survive. You’s got it in you.”
“I’m afraid, Mammy. I’ve never been on my own.”
“No one’s ever been on their own till they is. You’ll be fine, child, as long as you has George’s money. You set yourself up nice, and find a good man to look after you. A kind man. It ain’t hard for a pretty girl to find a suitor. And when you finds him, you tell him nothing, you hear? You tell him you’re as pure as spring water.”
“Won’t he know I’ve had a baby?” Madeline asked, intrigued by the idea of a clean slate.
